Abstract

Passively mode-locked semiconductor lasers are inexpensive sources of short optical pulses with high repetition rates, that find applications in high-precision metrology and high-capacity optical interconnects. Quantum dot (QD) based mode-locked lasers have received quite some attention as they exhibit high differential gain and large gain bandwidths [1]. However, the internal QD carrier dynamics can lead to strong pulse asymmetries with trailing edge plateaus or pulses [4], which becomes more pronounced at strong driving currents and thereby makes the generation of stable, short and high-power pulses challenging. Therefore, new concepts of monolithic mode-locked semiconductor laser geometries to circumvent such problems are highly desirable.

© 2019 IEEE